


Harmless

by ani_bester



Category: Avengers (Comics), Invaders (Marvel), Marvel, Marvel 616
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Childhood Friends, Cute, Gen, Kid Bucky Barnes, Kid Fic, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2013-04-18
Packaged: 2017-12-08 19:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ani_bester/pseuds/ani_bester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve takes a few moments to run across the street, leaving Carol and Tony to watching over a de-aged Toro and Bucky. He returns to chaos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harmless

**Author's Note:**

> I went with Toro and Bucky being their Golden Age ages here (12-ish). This is just a cute de-aging fic. I'm not overly worried about anything in terms of timelines and such.

Steve stood still on the plush red carpet, staring past the gilded elevator doors that opened to the private floors of Stark Tower. He’d expected things to be bad when he go back. He’d almost be disappointed in his memories of a young Bucky if things weren't bad. However, the devastation left him shaking his head in silent awe. He’d only just gone across the street to pick up some Hamburgers and fries to have on hand when Bucky woke up from the surgery. 

Every piece of furniture except one chair had been overturned and broken. Scorch marks marred the modern decorative metal walls and, in one spot a hole burnt to slag. Several small fires still smoldered around the room, kept under control by area specific automatic sprinklers. 

Tony and Carol sat among the wreckage looking as though they'd gone a few rounds with The Hulk. Tony slumped in a half burnt arm chair, and Carol sat on the overturned remains of Tony's antique writing desk. Her hair hung in disarray around her flushed face. 

She glanced over at Steve, and Steve could see fury I her narrowed blue eyes. 

Tony sat holding the melted remains of something Steve couldn't even begin to identify. He gazed at the wreckage as though not quite sure how it all happened. Every few seconds he ran his fingers through his hair then down along his face. Tony winced as he touched the bruised skin of his blackened eye. 

“Don’t you even say it,” Tony grumbled as he tossed the remains of something over his shoulder. 

“Say what?” 

"Oh, you are hysterical," Carol muttered. She pulled her hair back from her face and brushed soot from her uniform. 

“Why Carol, are you telling me that you and Tony couldn't handle a couple of tired out kids as well you predicted you would.” He ducked and caught something Tony had thrown at him in mid air. Looking at the item in his hand, Steve guessed it had been a cell phone before running afoul of Toro. 

Steve tossed the scrap metal back at Tony. He tried not to smile at his friends but he felt one sneak through his reserve anyway. 

"That's an 'I told you so' look, Steve." Tony chided as he pushed up his burnt sleeve and revealed bruising left by tiny fists. "It's very unbecoming you know." 

"Ok, you were right,” Carol said. “We should have gone and you should have stayed, but how were we supposed to know-"

"Because I told you they would react like this if either or both woke up." Steve said as he set his haul of fast food from the Burger King onto an overturned chair that had to serve as a table given the table was scattered around the room. 

"I knew there would be an 'I told you so,'" Tony said, leaning back on the overstuffed chair to give Carol a solemn nod. 

Steve resisted the urge to go over and swat Tony. "Well I did say that they would be hard to manage even at that age, but you two insisted, and what have we learned?" Steve tried to keep his tone firm and not spoil it with the laughter that threatened to burst out of him. 

"I think he's amused at our misery, Carol." Tony said. 

"I think you're right."

"I'm amused that you told me, and I quote, Carol, ‘they're just kids, how bad can they be?’"

Both Tony and Carol heaved a huge sigh. "They wouldn't have been so bad," Carol said, as she tried to arrange the sash back around her waist, "if we could have hit them back." 

Steve glanced around the room as though expecting the agents of its destruction to fall from the ceiling at any moment. 

"So where did you finally stash Bucky and Toro?"

"With the back up. In the other room," Tony sighed as he tried to straighten his shirt. Steve noticed the visible shirt tail was singed around the edges in the shape of a small hand. 

"Back up?"

"Back up," Carol repeated, her face turning red. "Yes Steve, Tony and I called for back up."

"Only because we were going to kill them." Tony added with a shrug. "But we thought you might disapprove of that."

Carol nodded, causing her thick blonde hair to swing wildly around her face. "Oh hell yes. If he called my a dame or you a Nazi one more time I was going to knock him into .. . . " 

She looked guiltily up at Steve.

Steve gave her an understanding smile. He could only guess what his two foolhardy friends had suffered through while he had been gone. 

Taking a deep breath he straightened up and nodded to Tony. "Take me to them."

Tony rose and Steve saw the back of Tony's pants had been ripped apart. 

The laughter finally bubbled over.

____________________________________________

When he entered the room, Steve immediately spotted the 'back up.' Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and Sue Richards. Sue sat on the couch with Johnny and Ben sat on the floor. The TV was on, but no one was watching. Instead, everyone stared at the two children Ben had tucked under his arms.

Both looked indignant like only an affronted child could. Bucky struggled to pull away from Ben’s grip. His chubby cheeks were red and sweat had plastered his brown hair down around his face. Unable to squirm free, Bucky began to beat his fists against Ben's stony arm and curse like the army brat he was. Toro, held firmly by Ben's right arm, kept trying to light on fire, but every time he did, Johnny absorbed the flame, and Toro swore at him.

Sue seemed to be there to help the two men keep their tempers in the face of pre-pubescent fury. 

"So what do you say," Johnny said, turning to Ben as he once again doused Toro's flames. He had to raise his voice to be heard over Bucky's profanity. "Is this hysterical or disillusioning?" 

Ben looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "Well, I gotta say I'm not surprised to learn Little Cap here was a brat. He had that air, ya know."

"Don't you talk about Bucky like that!" Toro yelled. He tried for a flaming fist to Ben's side, but Johnny put out the flame again, and there wasn't much a twelve year old's fist could do to The Thing. 

"You know," Johnny sighed, looking up at Ben, "I'm really glad I didn't name myself after him. He's kinda dumb. " 

Toro howled with rage and let loose a jet of flame that caused Ben to yelp and that Johnny had to scramble to put out. 

"Watch yer insults!" Ben yelled at Johnny over the sound of Toro and Bucky's enraged cries. "Unless yer offering to hold him for a while. 

"Oooh no," Johnny said. "That brat bites." 

"Johnny!" Sue exclaimed, trying to take control amidst the chaos, "Be nice now, he's only-"

Bucky glared at Sue as he struggled, "Shut up you Nazi B-"

"BUCKY!" 

Silence fell over the whole room and five people turned to look at Cap with relief written on every inch of their features

"CAP!" Buck shouted, squirming harder against Ben's stone hard grip. "Cap, this crazy Nazi with a beard captured us. We tried to escape but he had this monster thing and someone who can catch on fire too and-."

"Monster thing?" Ben grumbled. "Soon as your big and got your arm back, you 'an me are having words."

"They took Bucky's arm!" Toro wailed has he again tried to overpower Johnny's control. But he was exhausted now, hardly able to produce even the smallest flame. Steve looked at Bucky and saw fear in his eyes. Both he and Toro were panting, faces flushed as they struggled despite their wariness. 

The situation lost its comical tone. 

Steve held up his hands. "James," he said in his calmest voice, “Thomas, calm down, we're all on the same side in this room. You’re both safe." 

The use of their real names startled both boys into silence. It lasted only a moment though, before Bucky glanced beside Steve to Tony. "He’s got a German name!"

"So do a lot of Americans you-"

Steve held out his hand, cutting Tony off. Then he walked closer to Bucky. “I promise you, Bucky, he’s not a Nazi. He’s not an enemy. I asked him to watch over the two of you while I went to get some burgers. Cheese, and everything else but lettuce, just like you like them.”

Bucky thought that over. He looked to Steve with the innocent bravado he’d lost so fast in the war. "How do we know you're the real Cap?"

"Yeah," Toro added as he pounded against Ben's arm some more. "And how'd you know my name!"

"I told you, we're all friends here." 

“Prove it!” Bucky snapped. “Nazi’s faked Toro parents, so how do I know you’re not a clone or some android or something.”

Steve knelt down, face to face with Bucky. He reached up and undid the hooks to his cowl and pulled it off. 

“It’s me, Bucky. Really me.” He took Bucky’s hand in his and waited. Bucky stared back, studying every inch of Steve’s face, then he met Steve’s gaze with a challenging look of his own. 

“What’s your mother’s name?” 

“Sarah. And I told you that the first night I found you, when you were missing yours.”

Bucky took a deep breath and Steve held his own. 

“Yeah, ok,” Bucky answered. “You’re Steve.”

Toro craned his neck to try and look at Bucky from around Ben's chest, "Think he's brainwashed?" 

“Nope, it’s Steve,” Bucky spoke with such conviction that any other protest from Toro died unasked. 

"Hey, can the ever loving blue eyed thing, who is neither a monster nor a Nazi, put them down now?" 

Steve looked from Toro to Bucky then nodded. Despite the abuse heaped on him, Ben set each boy gently onto the ground. 

Bucky ran to Steve as soon as his feet touched carpet. Steve winced seeing the missing arm on such a small frame.

"Hey," he said putting an arm around Bucky, "What have I told you about thinking before reacting, huh?"

"I . . ." Bucky looked at the floor. "I was on an operating table, I thought . . . The blonde Dame said it's some crazy date and you were frozen in ice and I was an assassin and Toro was undead . . or something. It sounded too crazy."

"I know, trust me." Steve said, placing a hand on Bucky's back and guiding him to the couch. Bucky collapsed into it and buried his head in his hands, looking not unlike Tony had earlier that day. "I'm confused," he muttered. 

Toro hung back still glaring at Ben and Johnny. "Why's Bucky got one arm and where’s Pappy?!" He narrowed his eyes as though expecting Steve laugh manically, ripe off his face, and reveal himself to be the Red Skull.

"Bucky lost his arm at the end of the war." He looked at Bucky who stared straight ahead, chin resting in his hand as he contemplated what Steve said. "He gets a metal one, but when you two became children last night, his arm was too big. It had to be removed."

"That's why I was on the operating table," Bucky muttered.

"That's why you were on the operating table," Steve agreed. 

Steve looked over at Toro. Toro had his arms crossed and he looked from Johnny to Steve. "I thought he and the other doctor were hurting him," Toro explained as he pointed at Tony. 

"Speaking of him, where is Hank?" Steve asked, looking over to Tony and Carol.

"He bravely ran away." Tony deadpanned. 

Carol swatted Tony’s shoulder. “Hank went to try and figure out the quickest way to get them back to normal before they tore the building down. I asked him to.”

“Where’s Pappy?” Toro asked again. He’d begun to move closer, so Steve stood and picked the younger boy up into his arms. 

“Ah knock it off with the Pappy stuff would ya!” Bucky grumbled. “Pappy, pappy, pappy, I swear that’s all you know.”

Steve felt Toro heat up in arms. “Toro, Bucky,” he muttered in a warning voice. “Not now, please.”

Bucky glance up, looking guilty, and Toro cooled. Steve gave silent thanks that neither boy seemed to be in an arguing mood. He’d forgotten how quick they’d both been to quarrel. 

“Toro, Jim’s . . . away. We can’t contact him.” The lie didn’t sit well with Steve, but now was not the time to explain to Toro how Jim had headed an attack on New York and then left to parts unknown. It had been bad enough telling Toro all of that the first time. 

Steve sat Toro on the couch, giving Bucky a look until Bucky scooted over to make room for Toro.  
After a few moments though, Bucky moved off the couch to go sit on Steve’s other side, so Toro wasn’t between them. He scooted back against the couch, arms folded as he glared, challenging anyone to comment on his need to be close to Steve.

Steve sat there, arm around Bucky’s shoulders, while Tony and Carol went and talked with Ben, Johnny and Sue about anything other than Toro and Bucky. 

Finally though, Steve shifted and looked down to Bucky. "I need to talk with Hank, the man who left, about getting you to back to being adults. Sit here, stay quiet, and count down from two hundred, will you?"

"I won't fall asleep.” Bucky glared up at Steve with a stubborn look that Steve hadn’t seen in over 70 years. 

He smiled at the bravado as he always had. "You don't remember it Bucky, but aside from being put under to take off your metal arm, you've been awake for almost 60 hours. Toro too."

"Still won't fall asleep."

"Suit yourself."

Steve got up and went over to Tony, figuring he might as well start by asking if –before Toro and Bucky woke up and waged war upon him- Tony had made any progress understanding the machine that had reverted Toro and Bucky to such a young age. 

Halfway through a long winded answer that probably could have been summed up with a “no” a snore broke into Tony’s explanations. Everyone in the room turned to see Bucky and Toro lying against each other, sound asleep. Every now again, Toro would snore loudly and Bucky would shove at him without waking up until Toro stopped.

"And back to looking harmless," Carol sighed, shaking her head.

"But you know better now, right?" Steve couldn’t quite hide the laughter in his voice.

Tony and Carol exchanged a quick glance, then both looked back to Steve, their faces haggard with exhaustion. 

"Oh, God yes."


End file.
